A systematic analysis of the friction losses on bearings of modern turbocharger

Abstract

In the article, a novel test rig for determining the friction losses of modern turbocharger is presented. The friction torque of the bearing of turbocharger can be measured direct and stationary at any speed up to 100,000 min–1 by the friction test rig developed by the Ostfalia, University of Applied Science (UAS). Since 2010, over 50 turbochargers were measured on the test bench in extensive measurement series. The results give valuable and new insights of the influence of the next parameters on the bearing friction losses: oil temperature, oil pressure, thrust force and oil flow rate. Furthermore, a comparison between the different bearing types (semi-floating, full floating and ball bearings) was performed. The main observations and results are discussed in the scientific article.